


The softness of destruction (and the sound of silence)

by Mangoojuice



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Disability, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, NaTzu - Freeform, Post-Apocalypse, a lil bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24879187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangoojuice/pseuds/Mangoojuice
Summary: It took the world a lot of time to realize the apocalypse it had been dreading had actually already happened, because it went by slowly.Tzuyu was aware of it. From beginning to end.And even if the world is quiet now, she isn't lonely.
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Im Nayeon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61
Collections: Push & Pull: A Natzu Writing Collection





	The softness of destruction (and the sound of silence)

**Author's Note:**

> AYYY BOIS I AM BACK  
> joining back twitter made my productivity go down so much, my god. didnt write a thing since the samo one shot, am sorry  
> dont forget to check the other works in the collection as well ! <3  
> not proofread as always lol
> 
> https://youtu.be/2hwU2XOIKdg

If there is one thing Tzuyu loves about walking alone, it's the soft, tiny and discreet sounds the nature has to offer when everything else is quiet.

The waves of wind brushing against the trees, the relaxing rolling of water in a nearby river bed, and the occasional cracking of a twig being stepped on by a wild animal. But when she's in town, it's very different - quiet, still, but really not the same. It's trash cans being emptied by hungry abandoned pets, shutters slamming against walls after being left open for weeks when winds get stronger, and the very rare, aggressive noises of someone breaking into an empty home.

There's also the few times she heard bones crack under her feet, but she doesn't like to think about it.

Since the world shut down, everything has been mostly silent. Nothing on the radio, nor on the TV - no happy shouting coming from schools as you pass by them, no street vendors catching your attention for whatever they have to offer. The music is gone, too, and that is what Tzuyu misses the most.

She has the means to listen to some anytime - a faithful phone and a pair of headphones that have yet to give up on her, but the times she allows herself to sink into the melodies are very rare, for multiple reasons. First, there is the constant fear of alerting people around her, the bad kind. The ones with no mercy who walk on a destroyed Earth to try and ruin it even more, the fear that she won't hear them come. Second, the need to constantly be in sync with what's around her - her bond with nature getting stronger and stronger since she started walking alone being one of the thing keeping her alive. And third, the memories attached to the music. Images of people she knows are gone, and moments that flew by, forever lost. It hurts, and she can't bear any of it anymore.

The apocalypse came like it ended : quietly, once again. It started small, people dying here and there for no apparent reasons. No one really understood how everything happened, but Tzuyu liked the idea of extra terrestrial beings punishing Earth for how they had been behaving. Her family had flown Taiwan really early on, but the disease did not spare South Korea.

Then, things got louder, from civil wars mostly. No country was strong enough to fight another, because most had seen their population disappear since the start of it all. Humans faced two downfalls, the first one through sickness, and the second from destruction. But both brought deaths, and Tzuyu, despite her sadness, was glad she left her friends and family to the former rather than the later.

When governments were no more and only about 10 per cent of the population remained, the world fell under a heavy silence. Tzuyu hated it at first, waking up every morning to nothingness, to the emptiness that was, still are, her house, the streets, the city. Only nature left untouched.

She understood quickly that staying too long at the same place was no good - that she needed to be constantly on the move, or her will to live would slowly die out. She needed new horizons, and staying in the same area for longer than a week was a giveaway that she had been there and would come back. Defending yourself is hard, and after one broken wrist caused by a tired, hungry but violent young man she was going to help, she really started to avoid the very few others.

She discovered amazing places all around Korea - the Chunwang Peak, second highest in the country, the Gongryong Ridge, the Bulguksa Temple and so many others, always feeling safer in nature than in towns. She could not avoid those, though, as they were her only real suppliers of food and electricity.

Today is her first time in Seoul after a few weeks of wandering around, and she does not pay much mind to the destroyed buildings and the bodies on the pavement. It is as usual. She simply winces when she hears cats fighting at the other end of the street, but keeps going.

She finds a rather untouched grocery shop quickly, surprised by how it is still standing - she grabs whatever still looks eatable, and moves on.

The sounds of her boots on the road are the only ones echoing in the whole city, followed by leaves dancing around, slowly hovering above the floor as she steps next to them - she kicks one, and then another, her feet disappearing under the piles of yellow-ish leaves before shooting up, making them fly even higher. She chuckles as they fall back down, covering the pavement once again.

She knows the city by heart now, and quickly moves around the buildings, eyeing the wild animals and the plants slowly covering everything - coming from the dead bodies, getting higher and higher, reaching windows and street signs with no struggle at all.

She's convinced she's all alone in the street, until she stumbles upon someone crouched dow next to a small group of dogs - her first reaction is to hide, hearing the painful cries of one of the animals, and she peeks at the person from behind her hiding spot.

It takes a short while for her to understand that the person is actually trying to help the dog, but with little to no success, and for the first time in months, she decided to reach out to a stranger.

"Hey-" her voice cracks, a bit painfully - it has been a while since she last spoke to someone, after all. The dogs react, but not the person on the floor. "Hey, do you need help ? I have veterinarian supplies here," she lets her backpack slide down her arm as she gets closer, wondering why she's getting ignored like that.

She reaches out for the person, her hand touching their shoulder only slightly, enough to make them react as they quickly turn around to face her, kicking her hand away in surprise.

The first thing Tzuyu notices is how tired the person - this young woman, barely a few years older than her - looks, exhaustion plastered all over her face, and then, the blood on her hands. Tzuyu looks back up to a reassured look, and smiles back to show that she's here for good.

"Hello, I'm sorry for scaring you. My name is Tzuyu, and I think I can help with that," she sits down next to the stranger, looking at the wound on the dog's body. "I never finished my veterinarian studies, but I think I'm good enough to take care of this," she looks back at the woman, wondering why she's not saying anything.

The woman gives her an apologetic looks, before tapping on her ears, and Tzuyu understands. She carefully grabs the card that the stranger pulls out of her pocket, grimacing as it gets tainted with blood. The identity card gives her a few information, but she only remembers one.

Nayeon.

She nods as she gives the card back, and focuses on the dog again, taking care as best as she can of the suffering animal, Nayeon watching over her shoulder with curiosity. And as she handles stitches and bottles, the rest of the day flies by, giving her a kind of comfort she had been longing for for weeks - safety. 

They eat together that evening, settled in the entrance of the building next to the dogs' place, the one she took care of sleeping by their side. She learns about Nayeon's tastes, what she likes and what she does not really quickly. They also take the time to feed the dogs after a quick trip back to the convenience store Tzuyu stopped by the morning before.

Tzuyu notices Nayeon trying to communicate with her a few times - but it comes out as broken syllables, and she can understand the frustration the young woman displays after trying to finish a sentence. She goes for her bag and pulls out a damaged notebook, one she has been preciously keeping this whole time, filled with important places and notes - and hands it to Nayeon with a pencil.

The woman smiles and begins scribbling.

_Thank you for your help today. The dog you saved is mine, Kookeu. We've been staying with the other dogs for a few days now, but he got attacked by another pack._

"The dogs have been helping you ? That's really nice," Tzuyu says out loud as she writes it on the page.

_They've been keeping rude people away, yeah. Mind telling me your name again ? I can read your lips if you face me._

Tzuyu shifts from her position a bit, looking at Nayeon with a bit more concentration as she slowly tells her name for the second time.

_Tzuyu ?_

"Yes," she grins at Nayeon, who happily claps her hands in response. "can you - uh, have you always been deaf ?" she asks with hesitation,

_No. I failed at throwing an home made bomb a few months ago and it just blew my ears away_

"So you were the fighting type," Nayeon nods. "I was mostly hiding, only used what I know to heal wounds. Bit of a coward move, I think... it was scary," Tzuyu looks away from her new friend, gaze hovering over the destroyed street outside the window. She only looks away as paper hits her hands.

_I don't think so. I'm sure you healed a lot of people, just like Kookeu. We can't all be fighters._

"But what about being brave ? I watched my brother fight for a country he wasn't even from," Tzuyu holds her eyes on Nayeon as she watches the woman read her lips, feeling something rise in her chest. "And I just - didn't do anything."

_You were brave in your own way. Facing the aftermaths can be really difficult. I'm sure your brother was proud of you._

Tzuyu reads the sentence a few times, clenching her fists as the letters start to get blurry under her watering eyes - she feels a tear drop on her wrist, the almost healed one, and it hurts again. But it's a different kind of pain this time, one she does not want to feel. It's heavy, it's annoying, but it is also too difficult to hold in as Nayeon pushes the notebook away and hesitantly but lovingly wraps her arms around her.

And she cries for the first time in months. Quietly.

\--

The next morning, Tzuyu wakes up before Nayeon. She lets the young woman sleeps, giving her a probably well deserved rest, and heads for Kookeu, grinning as the little dog happily barks as she gets closer. He already looks much better, and Tzuyu steps out to feed the other dogs. 

It's raining, the warm kind of summer rain, and Tzuyu takes in the scent of the wet pavement with a hum - she watches the dogs jump in the puddles, happily joining them as the light water drops hit her bare arms. After a few days of walking under the sun, nothing feels better, and she laughs at the dogs joyfully nudging her legs - until it gets cut short when a bang rings to her right, and she immediately ducks down before going all the way back inside on her knees, not caring if they get scrapped. She hears two more other shoots, but they seem to get away from her as she jumps in the building, and she gently shakes Nayeon awake.

"There is someone firing outside," she whispers as she imitates someone using a gun at the young woman. "But it's okay, I don't think they were aiming at me," Nayeon looks back at her with a worried face. "I think we're safe but we'll have to move soon."

Nayeon understands, and they grab cereal bars before packing up - she manages to fold one of their sheets into a bag to settle Kookeu in it, and puts it on her shoulder when she's sure her old girl scout backpack is secured. They say bye to the other dogs with difficulty, especially for Nayeon, before heading to the closest city exit - Nayeon holding onto her shirt the whole time. 

The rain does not bother them - if anything, it's calming. Tzuyu has to check from time to time that Nayeon is following her, always turning around to discover a bright smile. The rain doesn't stop for the whole time, and they settle for an old wooden bus stops after a few hours of walking.

Tzuyu carefully places Kookeu on the floor before dropping on her back with a heavy sigh, the worrying feeling that they might have been watched as they left the city finally lifting up from her shoulders. She keeps her eyes close, focusing on the sounds around her - Nayeon's shuffling as she sits down, the rain drops, the light cracking of the old wood under the wind.

They stay put for a couple hours, and the rain has stopped when Tzuyu opens her eyes. Nayeon is cuddling with Kookeu a few steps away, and gives her a wide eye smile when they eyes meet up.

"We gotta find a library," Tzuyu suddenly says as an idea flashes in her head. "I haven't read books in forever and we could find something to learn sign language," Nayeon's face lights up even more as she nods, and they get back on the road, Nayeon leading the way this time, looking way more cheerful than the day before.

It doesn't take long before they reach another abandoned city, but this one is in an even more deteriorated state than Seoul. A lot of houses looking like they've caught on fire, the others swallowed by plants that had been here way before the apocalypse, broken windows everywhere and scattered glass covering the sidewalks. Tzuyu can't help but slow down near a burned body, wondering how such violence could have happened here - Nayeon tugs on her arm, disgusted by the sight, and they move on.

They spot a library standing almost proudly near the middle of the city, but Nayeon stops before going forward, eyes stuck on the floor.

"What's up ?" Tzuyu asks, joining her side. The pavement under their feet is covered in dead flowers and what looks like tomb stones, with dozens and dozens of names written on them. "A... graveyard." She follows Nayeon as the young woman makes her way around the nameplates, carefully as to not step on any of them. They reach the library easily, Tzuyu stopping at the entrance to get another look at the nameplates.

From higher above, it looks even worse. Nameplates after nameplates and dried up flowers making up a frightening square of death and regrets. But the sunlight shining over the rain drops resting in the carved letter seems to make the whole thing shine, and Tzuyu can only hope the last moments of all those people were good ones.

She joins Nayeon inside the building, in awe at the sight of the light pouring inside from the destroyed walls and broken down windows, its shine feeding the plants making their way around the shelves. The books don't seem to have been destroyed, with only a few scattered on the floor. They settle in one of the alley, pushing some of the tables on the sides, dropping their supplies down. Tzuyu pushes away a studying books that seem to have been abandoned in a rush from one of the table, eyeing the drops of blood between the pages, very well aware that sudden blood coughing was a sign of the disease.

She immediately lights a fire up, surprising Nayeon when she throws the book in.

"It's okay, nothing important," Tzuyu reassures the older woman with a smile.

They quickly find the books they want afterwards, the two of them spending the next few days in the library, mostly learning about sign langage under the warm light of summer and its soft breeze, Kookeu slowing getting back on his feet as the hours pass by.

Tzuyu realizes that even if she has Nayeon by her side, the world still feels quiet. But she can pinpoint a few new things ; she doesn't feel lonely or lost anymore, with someone she can trust, someone she has to protect by her side - and there is also a new sound, the one of the pen running around the pages, but not by her hand. A sound that somehow always makes her feel happy, the letters being a strong connection between the two of them.

The letters, and the sound of their making follows them everywhere in the few months that fly by. Nayeon drawing on the dust of cars, Tzuyu adding tips to her surviving list, and even somehow Kookeu running in the sand with a stick in his mouth, drawing symbols of his own when they finally head for the beach.

It's way less quiet here, with the crashing waves and the birds, and Tzuyu wishes Nayeon could hear the sound of the sea. She knows she might have heard it before, but something feels different now. They leave their stuff in the closest beach bar before heading for the water, playing around together, and Tzuyu hears Nayeon's laugh for the first time as she stumbles into the water, pulling Tzuyu along with her when the tall girl offers her help to stand back up.

Tzuyu tries her best to avoid looking at Nayeon's wet, see through top, but her gaze doesn't go unnoticed, and she gets a playful elbow hit in the arm as she turns into a blushing mess.

They warm up next to a little fire under the sunset, and for a moment, Tzuyu forgets that the apocalypse happened. She closes her eyes, listening to Nayeon's happy humming as she writes, the sound of the waves, and she pretends everything is okay - she imagines that her family is by her side, somewhere on the beach, but brushes the thoughts away quickly. It stings.

She feels something hover above her hand, slightly shifting when something presses against her palm - Nayeon's finger. She does not open her eyes, and lets her friend do whatever she wants. It's a bit difficult to get it at first, but she realizes Nayeon is writing something. She furrows her eyebrows, and Nayeon writes it again - Tzuyu shoots up, eyes wide as she gets what has been written on her palm, but Nayeon is frozen, looking at something behind her. 

"Well, if it isn't some good looking travelers," a man's voice reaches her ears, and Nayeon shaking her head tells her not to move as his steps get closer. "you would not mind helping an old man, would you ?" 

Tzuyu feels something presses behind her head, and she takes a deep breath.

"We don't have much, but I'm sure we can find something to give you."

"No, I don't want _something_ , I want everything here, kid."

"If I agree to give our most valuable stuff, will you get this gun away from my skull ?" Tzuyu tries to ask in an understanding tone, but her voice shakes. She breathes normally again when she feels the weapon move away, and leans forward to grab her bag, but Nayeon jumps.

Knife in hand, her other one grabbing the man's arm, forcefully pulling him to the side. The weapon slides in slow motion against the man's neck under Tzuyu's eyes, before breaking the skin and going deep inside, blood already splattering on Nayeon's face, her fearless eyes only squinting slightly at the sight.

Quick. Efficient. No time for any sound, as Tzuyu faces the familiar silence Death sometimes offers.

The sand near their feet turn red, blood flowing between the tiny grains, slowly making its way to Tzuyu's hand. Nayeon drops the knife before dragging the body away under Tzuyu's eyes like she had not just murdered someone - but her avoiding making eye contact when she comes back tells a lot to Tzuyu, who does not know what to say. Nayeon acts busy as she covers the blood tainted sand with more sand.

Part of her is used to this, the other is impressed, but in between she feels fear. Fear and disgust, and she rubs her palm, remembering the words Nayeon had written moments before. When the older girl finally looks up again, it is with eyes full of regrets, and something else. A mix of worry and hatred, as well, of something that had been burning inside Nayeon and not woken up for the past month.

And Tzuyu finally feels pity as she gets up to sit by her friend's side.

"It's okay, I've seen people do worse than that," she writes down in the notebook, Nayeon anxiously tapping her fingers against her leg. "but please tell me what you're about to do next time."

_I'm sorry._

"You probably saved both of our lives here, it's fine. Thank you." 

Tzuyu insists, grabbing Nayeon's hand, locking their fingers together. The older girl drops her shoulder and rubs her forehead, before reaching for Tzuyu's other hand and writing again.

Tzuyu enjoys the soft feeling of the girl's fingertip against her palm again, immediattelt forgetting about whatever happened a few minutes before, the tone of the man's voice already fading away from her mind. Nayeon repeats the same words, but with an additional question this time.

_What about you ?_

Tzuyu feels a bit shy about answering the question, but she knows her own feelings. She knows she doesn't need to voice them out loud, because it does not matter with Nayeon. She lets go of the girl's hand, who immediately looks sad.

"Hey, wait. Look," Tzuyu lifts Nayeon's chin up, and starts signing with her hands. Hesitantly at first, she points to herself, then to Nayeon - she puts her hand into a fist before lifting her pinky up, then her index, and finally her thumb, making respectively the I, L and Y shapes.

Nayeon chuckles, quickly making the sign herself before dropping her head into her hands and mumbling incoherent words that Tzuyu learned to understand over time.

_I wish I could tell you this loud and clear with my own voice_

"It's okay. I like the quietness," she pulls Nayeon close to her, letting happy tears wet her clothes. She runs her finger on the girl's back, as reassuringly as she can, writing what she's saying as she tells herself. "Words aren't everything. I get to listen to other things, like the beat of your heart, the sound of your steps, and the melody of your laugh, still. Which is enough for me to understand you, and your love."

_I love_ you, brushed against her leg.

"I love you, too."

And the world falls quiet.

\--

In the silence behind what can be heard lies the answers we have been searching for for so long.

\- Andreas Fransson

**Author's Note:**

> the I love you sign in sign language is the same as the hand gesture for fancy !!! :)
> 
> you can find me on twitter @chaengspaint ! i switched acc, and i draw fanart as well <3 but i kinda do be annoying so youre warned


End file.
